Do or Die Trying
by cinnysangel
Summary: The group is dealing with fear of what outsiders could do to upset the safety of all of them. While searching the area surrounding Hershel's farm they save a woman from a fate worse than death. Will her presence bring unity or divide them further?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Walking Dead, AMC or any of their affiliates. This is purely for entertainment purposes and is a fan created fiction. This story does not reflect the actual Walking Dead series and doesn't claim to be anything but a fan (me) expressing my appreciation for the characters and the wonder that is The Walking Dead. All OFC's (Original Fictional Characters) are a product of my own imagination. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental.**

**Do or die trying**

**Chapter 1**

Shane threw his arm in the air; in one hand he clutched a rifle. "Aw this is just bullshit. We're walking around here for an hour. Meanwhile our camp is unmanned! There isn't shit out here. That smoke could have been anything."

Daryl ducked out of the way of the end of the gun. "Hey, fucking watch it!"

"Our camp isn't unprotected." Rick put his hand on his aching ribs. He had been through the wringer lately and his body couldn't keep up. "But you're right. There isn't anything out here."

"Right…" Shane put his finger to his head like the thought just occurred to him. "That's right our camp is protected. By T-Dog and a guy who froze when it mattered. I forgot. Real safe!"

"I have complete confidence in T-Dog's ability, and don't you worry about Glenn that was a unique situation. I'd ask you how you know that brother, but I'm well aware this camp has little secrets. Plus Andrea is there. You taught her to shoot so if she isn't accurate that's on you!"

Daryl's fingers involuntarily went to his temple. He couldn't help but think she was accurate enough. Had she hit her target a hair closer, it would have been lights the fuck out for him. Rick gestured to Daryl with his palm, indicating that Andrea could indeed shoot. She shot Daryl from a distance in a crowd of people. She hadn't mortally wounded him but she still made contact. Shane was about to say something else to continue the argument, Daryl cut him off. "The two of you could have stayed back at camp! I know these woods better than all y'all. You know shit about tracking and navigation! Twenty five feet ahead is a cabin that is where the smoke was coming from. It ain't no one camping cause chimney smoke goes up differently, no wind on the fire! Now shut your traps both of you or the element of surprise ain't no surprise at all!"

Rick and Shane looked at each other before following Daryl. Rick shrugged at Shane's puzzled expression. "How am I supposed to know what he's talking about?"

.

Roger Brody fell to the floor. His head was bleeding from being pistol whipped. It took all of his strength to remain conscious. A filthy, heavyset man was smacking around his beautiful twenty nine year old daughter. "Please don't hurt her! I'll give you everything we have! Take it all!" His stomach churned from the effort to talk. Violently he dry heaved making his head pound even more.

"Daddy, I can handle it. Don't argue with them!" Dylan looked at the other men. When she was satisfied they weren't going to react to her father's outburst, she turned towards the man that was hitting her. "What do you want?" He smiled at her. It was an evil smile and she knew something awful was about to happen.

"You can handle it? YOU CAN HANDLE IT?"

He slammed Dylan against the wall with such force her breath was knocked right out of her lungs. Her knees buckled as she tried desperately to stay conscious. He pressed his body against hers preventing her from crumpling to the floor. Silently she consoled herself. They'll just take the supplies and move on. You just have to survive long enough.

.

The man that was holding her had rancid breath from rotting teeth. His beard and hair were unkempt as was his clothing. It didn't get this way overnight and Dylan was positive this was the way he lived his entire life. The smell turned her already queasy stomach. The other two were just as bad. Where she was from, they were called mountain men. The kind of men that married their cousins, had deformed babies, and lived life in shacks much like the one Dylan and her father had taken over last week.

.

His words snapped her out of her assessment into reality. "You can handle it? Let's see how much you can handle. Can ya handle Donald, over there?" The man Donald smiled at her. He had a "meth mountain" kind of smile. The type you see regularly on the meth addicts back home in Marshal County. His teeth were black as coal. He was too thin, deathly so. His hands shook, which confirmed her thoughts, he was an addict and burning out too. Dylan knew she would be able to fight him off if she had too. The other man, a kid really, was holding her father at gun point. He watched, wide eyed, as the fat son of a bitch continued to taunt her.

"Let's have some fun. Some real fun." His hand trailed down Dylan's side to mid-thigh.

Dylan's father tried to rationalize with him. "Don't touch her! I told you. You can have it all. I got guns, bullets and food. There is food in there!" He pointed to a cedar bench. The type you would see at the foot of a bed.

.

The druggie giggled until spittle formed at the corners of his mouth. He was pouring sweat even though it wasn't hot in there. The temperature was dropping and the nights were fairly cold. He yanked at his belt furiously but still wasn't able to pull it open. Nervously the kid kicked her father hard in the stomach and followed the blow with another to his head using the butt end of the rifle.

"No! Don't hit him anymore you bastard!"

She screamed when the man holding her slid his hand into her crotch. Dylan squirmed and fought him but he was just too strong. There was nothing she could do to stop him. He yanked her pants down to her knees. She hit him but he just slammed her against the wall again. He was going to rape her and then let the other two have a go at it. This was almost hopeless yet Dylan refused to stop fighting. She grabbed a fistful of hair, yanking his head back as hard as she could.

"I like rough, come on give it…"

.

Dylan let go of his hair the second the arrow pierced his head. She watched the way his arms shot up and stayed like that. She looked into his eyes, a look of shock etched onto his face. He was dead before he hit the ground. She looked from the man who held her captive to the man that saved her. He stood in the window for a brief moment, staring at her from over the end of a crossbow. If he hadn't killed her attacker, she would have believed he was one of this group.

.

The druggie was laughing at his friend almost like the arrow was some kind of joke. The kid shifted his weight from foot to foot. Time seemed to stretch an eternity between the moment her captor was killed and the moment she wished it was her lying dead on the floor. Dylan yanked her pants back up as the door was kicked in. A cop in a light on dark brown uniform held a gun to the kids head. He was the first into the room. A large muscle bound man with a shaved head was right on the heels of the cop. He executed the druggie before he even stepped into the room completely. One single shot rang out and Dylan hadn't a clue who pulled the trigger. The kid still clung to the rifle, panic rose in him, showing in his unpredictable movements. The shaved head man screamed at the cop. That one had to be the one who kicked in the door. Dylan glanced at his heavy boots, thinking he was some sort of military man. "Shoot him! Haven't you learned yet? Shoot HIM! Goddamn it!" He shook his bald head in disgust when the cop failed to respond. Another shot filled the cabin deafening Dylan. The kid crumpled to the floor.

.

Dylan remained plastered to the wall. Her ears were ringing, slowly they were returning to normal. She didn't know if she could trust these men or if they just brought another type of pain to her life. Fear ran through her. She worried, had they saved her only to harm her worse than the other three? She looked at the doorway feeling the desperate need to get out of the cramped cabin. The crossbow man blocked the exit. A gasping, gurgling sound finally penetrated her conscious thought. It seemed out of place and familiar all the same. Dylan's eyes fell on her father. His face was red as he clutched his chest. A dark stain spread out on the front of his shirt. Dylan couldn't process what was happening until she saw the brighter red seeping through his fingers.

"Daddy!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Walking Dead, AMC or any of their affiliates. This is purely for entertainment purposes and is a fan created fiction. This story does not reflect the actual Walking Dead series and doesn't claim to be anything but a fan (me) expressing my appreciation for the characters and the wonder that is The Walking Dead. All OFC's (Original Fictional Characters) are a product of my own imagination. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental.**

**Do or Die trying**

**Chapter 2**

Dylan stood by the body of her father. Tears rolled down her cheeks but she didn't utter a sound. Roger was a strong, peaceful man who kept his emotions in check but showered her and her mother with affection. Her dad loved life, even when life seemed to be ending he found happiness. Shortly after the outbreak there was a rainbow off in the distance. He and Dylan were camping for survival, forced from their homes like countless other people. Roger had pointed at it and said what he always said at the bright colors. "Heaven is celebrating; they've hung out the decorations." Dylan failed to see the beauty in the world they lived in. It was ugly. And heaven, even if it did exist, they had nothing to celebrate. Dylan choked back a sob, searching for strength. She really didn't feel like being strong, or surviving. She would though if only for Roger's sake. Life just seemed pointless now, without another human on this planet that she could call family or friend.

.

Rick saw the woman struggling with her emotions. He knew how it felt to put on a brave face when all you wanted to do was lose it. He rested his hand on her shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. "Ma'am I am deeply sorry for your loss." Dylan made eye contact, her lips quivered in response to the emotions she desperately wanted to hide. Rick tried his hardest to comfort her. "Maybe it's best if you come with us."

Her eyes got wide and she shook her head. "I…I can't leave him. This is my home, our home. I can't go. No get out! Get out of my home!"

.

Outside Rick and Shane argued. "We can't just leave her there." Rick wanted to reach the human side of Shane before he was too far gone. He worried it was too late for that.

"Why not? She doesn't want to go. Who the hell is she anyway? One more mouth to feed and Hershel is chomping at the bit to get us out of there! If we bring back…"

"Not us…you. He wants you out." Rick stood his ground staring Shane in the eye. "Look all I'm saying is we can't just leave her here. What if those guys had other people in their camp like them? Maybe…Maybe Hershel knows her."

Daryl scowled "Christ sakes!" He marched into the cabin slinging the crossbow over his shoulder.

.

Dylan had knelt by her father. His skin was starting to change color as the blood pooled. So much of it had drained out of his body that Dylan was surprised there was any left to leave the purplish marks. She ignored the evil looking man. Daryl silently waited for her to say her goodbye. He figured she would and then see the best thing for her would to come with them. As the minutes ticked on he realized she wasn't going to budge.

"Lady you can't stay here! I give you two days and you'll be out of here faster than shit! The smell alone will drive you…"

She lifted her face to him, staring at him with the deepest blue eyes he had ever seen in his life. They were rimmed with tears that pooled and hung at her lashes. He wasn't sure if it was the tears or the strands of dark hair framing her face that made her eyes seem so much like sapphires.

"It's time to leave, it ain't safe. We got to get back to the farm."

"I can't go! You have to know that."

Daryl had enough asking. He put his hands under her arms and hoisted her to her feet. Before she had a chance to respond he had her flung over his shoulder. She punched him on his back while screaming at him to put her down. He ignored her request, marching straight out of the cabin, carrying her all the way back to the truck. He tossed her into it with enough force that it reminded Dylan of having the wind knocked out of her lungs by that man who attacked her. She gasped trying to breathe deeply.

"You…just…going… kidnap me?"

Daryl climbed into the truck and started it. He leaned out the window of the driver's side. "Ass in seat now or you walk back!"

Shane opened the door making Dylan slide over closer to Daryl. She wanted to argue but part of her was grateful he forced her to make the choice she couldn't have made on her own. He was right what was she going to do, live with her father's corpse? And how would she defend herself alone? Rick ran back to the cabin. Dylan noticed no one argued or said a word that he didn't get into the truck right away. He returned with her bag. She hadn't thought of her supplies but this man had. Maybe the three of them weren't so bad after all.

.

They all remained quiet for most of the ride, until Dylan couldn't stand the silence anymore. She had no idea who they were other than the few facts she had picked up from hearing them argue. Nervously she rattled off every detail she could recall. "There's more than the three of you in your group? On a farm? And which one of you is Rick Dixon?"

Shane laughed out loud. "Honey that's an insult if I've ever heard and insult. I'm Shane Walsh, and this hear is my partner in crimes, Rick Grimes!" He laughed again eliciting a glare from Daryl. "And that mean son of a bitch you're sitting next to is Daryl Dixon." Shane reached back over the seat snacking Rick on the bicep. "She thought you were a Dixon!"

Daryl muttered a few curse words about being proud of who he was. Dylan smiled when she heard clearly "mother fuckin proud!" Daryl was Rebel to the bone! She knew men like him. Rough men, loyal to a fault, rowdy sons of a bitch, the type you made friends with because you didn't want them as an enemy. Rick couldn't help but laugh at Daryl's muttering and Shane's light banter. It was the first time since the shit hit the fan that he had heard Shane sound like the man he once knew. He believed it was also the first time in a long time Shane had laughed without cynicism. "You're right there is a farm and we are from a larger group we will introduce you to everyone once we are there. Strange to be asking you this now but what is your name?"

"Dylan… Dylan Brody." She caught Daryl taking a quick doubtful glance in her direction. "It really is my name. After Matt Dillon. My father is a big…" She held her breath to keep from breaking down. Her voice shook when she attempted to finish. "…_was a_ Gun Smoke Fan"

.

Daryl walked off as soon as they got out of the truck. A woman with long brown hair and a boy came up to Rick. Shane went to an RV without speaking to anyone. A couple of woman stood around staring at her while a man stood on top of the RV. Another was on the porch with a girl. Dylan thought she would get a welcome but so far everyone just looked at her as if she posed a threat.

"I can go back home…"

Rick suddenly realized what was going on. Everyone was drifting into their own worlds again. He didn't want to see that happen anymore although he understood it. "Gather round, everyone, you too Daryl. Maggie will you get Hershel and the others." As soon as everyone, but Beth, sat on the porch Rick introduced Dylan. "We all know how it feels to have bad things happen. Dylan is no stranger to tragedy and loss. I'd appreciate it if we'd help her get comfortable." He turned towards Dylan. "Hershel is a physician."

Dylan began shaking her head. "I'm fine. I don't need…"

"It's okay my wife Lori, Patricia and Maggie will be there. They'll help you get some clean clothing. You'll be fine. You can trust us."

Maggie came down the steps and went to Dylan. She smiled. "I bet a hot shower would feel great right now, wouldn't it?"

.

Dylan nodded and allowed them to lead her to the house. Hershel gave Rick a warning stare. Rick held onto Lori's arm and went in for what looked to be a kiss. He whispered close to her ear. "Do you have any of those pills left?"

"The morning after pills? No. What happened to her? Shane didn't?"

Rick was taken aback by Lori's question. Why did she think Shane hurt the woman? "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Lori pulled away from Rick and jogged to the house. "I better get inside."

Rick looked at the RV just in time to see Shane staring at Lori.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Walking Dead, AMC or any of their affiliates. This is purely for entertainment purposes and is a fan created fiction. This story does not reflect the actual Walking Dead series and doesn't claim to be anything but a fan (me) expressing my appreciation for the characters and the wonder that is The Walking Dead. All OFC's (Original Fictional Characters) are a product of my own imagination. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental.**

**Do or die trying**

**Chapter 3**

Rick opened the screen door after his knock went unanswered. He heard voices coming from the second floor. He could make out Lori's voice as she questioned Dylan. Rick waited a few minutes knowing Hershel would come to the kitchen to talk. He wasn't alone when he finally did make his way down the stairs. Lori was hot on his heels. Rick sighed. He really didn't want Lori party to the conversation he was about to have with Hershel. He knew he couldn't ask her to leave because she wouldn't go even if he did.

"I don't know what you expect me to do for the young woman." Hershel was rolling up his sleeves all the same. "She seems to be healthy although I am not positive about her mental state. I'm not that kind of a doctor."

"Why would she need the morning after pill?" Lori spoke up, unafraid to ask that question in front of their host.

"She's pregnant? I will not stand for abortions being done on my property!"

Lori closed her mouth tightly grinding her teeth together. If Hershel knew what she had tried he would throw them off his land.

Rick took a deep breath. "I don't know if she's pregnant. We heard the scream…Daryl killed the man…in the act. I killed one of them and Shane did the third."

"They were rapping her?" Lori covered her mouth afraid to say anything else. Hershel held onto a chair for support. No one noticed Dylan standing on the steps.

"Yes he tried. And I am not pregnant!" Dylan ran down the steps stopping at the door. "Where is my bag?"

"Just hold on." Rick reached out to Dylan, but refrained from touching her.

"Please just let me go. I didn't …don't want anyone to treat me like this. Like I'm different!"

"The man that attacked you was bit. And so was his partner, as far as I could tell the younger man wasn't." Dylan fell to her knees where she remained. Tears ran down her face as she hugged herself. Rick got down to her level. "Please let the women check you and then Hershel. For our safety and yours."

Dylan didn't argue in fact she didn't speak for the rest of the afternoon. Lori was begining to worry that something was really wrong with her other than the outbreak. She was going tot alk to Rick later, make sure he understood that adding another person to their group was just stupid. And one that was unstable, they already had enough of that kind of thing with Shane.

* * *

><p>"You already isolate yourself from the rest of the group." Rick had found Daryl near his tent, inspecting his bow. This was the only solution he could think of for the woman.<p>

"Yeah so that means I'm automatically supposed to babysit the chick?" Daryl looked up with only his eyes, hoping the stare would make Rick turn around and leave him alone. "Maybe I don't fuckin want to!"

"I'll take you out of rotation. You can sleep during the day when she's up. All you have to do is make sure she isn't showing any signs."

Daryl stood up, pulling a knife from his belt. He sat back down, slamming a squirrel onto the log he was straddling. "That ain't out of rotation! Bullshit! That is walker duty every damn night! Why's it always gotta be me? What about your boy or the Korean? You people are pathetic. Can't do shit on your own."

Rick watched him gut the animal. He was instantly reminded of the way Daryl had done the same to a walker they thought might have eaten Sophia. His stomach flip-flopped making Rick cough on the bile that rose in his throat.

Daryl shot him a look of disgust. "All this time and you can't handle a little blood from your dinner? Fucking pathetic!"

"I'm fine!" Rick held up his hand while he took a deep breath. "Look I chose you. Because I know you can do this. I also…" Rick hated saying it. Hated admitting he needed Daryl Dixon. Only one thing could be worse and that would be having to trust his brother Merle. "I know you won't do anything to her unless it had to be done. I also know you won't hesitate if it did. I have faith in you."

His whole life no one had faith in him. His family, his school, everyone assumed he was a loser, not worth a damn. Daryl didn't know how to take this change in attitude. Did Rick really mean it or was he just trying to get his way? The knife stilled and then was suddenly pointed in Rick's face. The blade picked up the light, sending a blinding flash into Rick's eyes. "You got two weeks. If she ain't foaming at the mouth and trying to bite someone's head off by then, she's your fucking problem! Got that? You finish this I'm going back to fucking bed!"

.

Glenn raised his eyebrows when he heard Daryl ranting. He called him the Korean and not some other rude remark. Was Daryl getting soft? Could he actually be starting to mesh with all of them? Maybe that is why he moved out of camp but didn't leave yet. Maggie believed Daryl was going to disappear, yet here he was still pissing in everyone's cheerios. Only he was doing it in a slightly nicer way.

Maggie tousled Glenn's hair when she walked up behind him. "What are you laughing about?"

"I'm the Korean!" Glenn pointed at Daryl.

"He said that? He should be a little friendlier, do the world a favor."

Glenn laughed and stole Maggie's hat. While running away he yelled, "That is as friendly as Daryl gets."


End file.
